LCBO strike looming

Brampton Guardian

Alcohol lovers are
already panicking over a looming doomsday — an LCBO walkout just before a
holiday nicknamed after beer. The countdown has begun.
Friday, May 17, the
eve of the Victoria Day long weekend, is the potential strike date the
union has set for its 7,000-strong membership.
The province has faced
these tough times before. The summer of 2009 was terrible. The city
reeked because of the garbage strike and LCBO workers were set to walk
out June 24. Ontarians became punch drunk, falling over each other in
line waiting hours to get anything with alcohol in it, quality be
damned.
The day before the strike date, the LCBO sold $56 million worth of booze.
That remains an all-time record for one-day sales, said LCBO spokeswoman Heather MacGregor.
But in the wee hours of the 24th, the sides settled, calming nerves and procrastinators.
Both the union and the LCBO said they want to avoid a strike and are set to begin four days of negotiations next Tuesday.
If a strike does
occur, spirits will be hard to find — like searching for a unicorn.
Which is exactly why Barry Bernstein and Barry Stein can’t wait for the
strike.
They run Still Waters
Distillery in Concord, just north of Toronto, where they make and sell
whisky, vodka, gin and the like. It could be a windfall as the hordes
craving spirits scour the province.
“This could be really,
really great for us,” Bernstein said. “We launch our new whisky this
weekend, and our online store goes live next week.”
But the province won’t
run dry. Wine can still be had at wineries and stores such as the Wine
Rack. And beer can still be bought at The Beer Store and at breweries.
The fallout from a strike could hit restaurants and bars, as they get their liquor from the LCBO.
The Crown corporation said it has a contingency plan for its licensees, but also encourages those businesses to stock up.
But, as is human nature, stockpiling will be left to the last minute.
“Yeah, that could
really suck,” said Jason Davidson as he walked out of the LCBO store on
Queens Quay lugging a sixer of suds and bottle of vodka. “I should maybe
buy some more, but I still got time, right?”
He has 21 days until 634 liquor stores in Ontario could go dark.
The Star spoke to 20
people outside a liquor store, of whom 19 had not done any stockpiling —
although all admitted they would buy some extra drinks “soon.”
Then there’s James Harley. He has a plan, and it started Thursday when he bought beer and wine.
“I’m going to buy a
bit every day, just in case,” said Harley, who admitted he has a
hoarding problem. “But I’m also worried I’ll just drink more.”
So drink ‘em if you got ‘em. Or don’t.